Masks Off
by Smiles1001
Summary: Reveal fic, Marinette and Adrien reveal themselves to each other, but not all stories have a happy ending...
1. Chapter 1

It was surprising, of course, but she stood there, still as a statue as she contemplated and took in the new information. She should be ecstatic, she knew that, but something held her back from jumping off to that assumption. This was it, the big reveal, and it couldn't have gone worse.

The day had started easily enough, she was on time for school, she got an A on her chem test, and her mom had packed her favorite pastry into her lunch. Chloe had been mean, like always, but she didn't seem to have anything bad to say directly to Marinette today. This of course meant she had caused a poor kid to run crying into the bathroom, but that was chloe being chloe. Marinette even talked to Adrien today! If only she had known…

The akkuma attacked, like it always does, and they won, like they always do. The dynamic duo always saving the world. She didn't know what made them want to reveal themselves now, and she wished she could undo it. Maybe it was the beautiful weather, or the good mood, or the easy win, but they had decided that their trust was strong enough for this. Their trust was unbreakable, or so she thought.

He was Adrien Agrest.

He revealed himself first, that cat always so eager. His transformation wore off and her gasp could be heard echoing off the empty halls of the building they were secluding themselves in. His face was full of excitement mixed with uncertainty. He stared at her as he waited for a response.

"Well my lady" he asked nervously, "What do you think?"

"I…" she started, "I thought I knew you"

"What does that mean" he asked worriedly as he tried to step closer, she waved him off.

"You" she stammered, "You are Adrien Agrest, the kind hearted boy that helps everyone even if you don't think they deserve it. You are the boy who took the blame for something you didn't cause so your friends wouldn't get in trouble. Your the model that everyone looks up to"

His face had gone from worried to angry. "That's my civilian form! That's the boy who puts on an act for everyone to see so his dad can sell products. That's the boy who everyone wants to see and wants to believe is real. That isn't me! Chat Noir is me! When I wear my mask I can be myself, I can be strong, make puns, save the world, and accidentally fall in love; because that's what I did m'lady, I fell in love with you. That's the only thing that my civilian form has in common with me, we both love you ladybug"

Now, it was her turn to be angry.

"But you didn't love me!" she yelled, "You loved Ladybug and she isn't me! You say that both your civilian and your true self love me but that's not true, you love the mask! Not the girl behind it. You love what it represents not was it truly is, a mask. You love Ladybug the mighty superheroine who always saves the day and is loyal to you and the city. You don't love ME!" She felt like her heart was going to explode from the overwhelming amount of emotions clinging inside of it. He fell in love with a masquerade, and she a puppet. She was always afraid that it would come to this. Everyone always loved Ladybug more, and rightfully so. Ladybug saves the world, but she felt like she couldn't save herself. She didn't need everyone's approval but she wished her closest friends would pay attention to Marinette more than Ladybug, because unlike Chat, she hid behind that mask. Her true self was Marinette, and as Ladybug she acted braver and stronger and sure of herself to keep the public calm when there was an attack. The public fell in love with that image, _Adrien_ fell in love with that image. Yet know one seemed to understand how fake it really was. Ladybug isn't perfect, no one is, but people couldn't accept that. So she had always been afraid that people close to her would prefer Ladybug to Marinette. And her concerns had just came true. She had yet to reveal herself but she felt a hand on her shoulder trying to turn her towards the only other face in the room.

"Ladybug please" He pleaded, "how could you possibly say something like that! Of course I love you in your civilian form, who _ever_ that may be, just give me a chance. There has to be a reason why you're so against this"

"Because I loved you too, that perfect boy in the posters, the boy who would stand up for his friends, the boy who could save the world without hiding behind a mask!"

"You fell love with a model you have never meet. You couldn't possibly know anything about me" He puffed out frustrated. She knew he meant well, but he still didn't understand.

"Ah, ah, ah" she sighed, "That's where you're wrong"

"You couldn't know me in civilian form" he paled. She finally moved towards him.

"C'est la vie" she choked out as her transformation disappeared.

"Marinette?!" he back up a little as he looked at her in shock, "I...I…"

"Fell in love with the mask" she finished for him, "and couldn't see past it to the girl who loved you if you had just turned to notice" She walked out of the building, leaving him to his shock, and proceeded to walk home. She told herself she didn't want to be the girl who cried over a boy, and she didn't. She laid in her bed and for the first time that day, instead of feeling everything, she felt numb.

But somehow, that was worse...


	2. Chapter 2

After all this time, the flirting and saving and freedom had finally paid its price. He really was unlucky.

He knew he shouldn't think that. He was unbelievably lucky in most categories that other people weren't. He was raised well enough with more money than needed and everything he had ever wanted. Sure his dad wasn't perfect, but he was alive. It's was always hard for him to tell if his problems were considered legitimate. He wasn't starving, he had his mom for most of his life so far, he was rich, intelligent, and well mannered. So did that mean it hurt any less when his mom dissapeared, no. But he always kept in mind what his life could have been like and tried to stay positive.

What his mom's disappearance did bring him was a sense of loneliness. Being a model is great and all but making friends was always hard. When he first met Nino he was beyond ecstatic to have a real friend, now he has 3! Well, he thinks he still has 3…

The first time he became Chat and transformed, he was surprised to know how much of his actual self he had been keeping tucked away from the world. He didn't have to be a model, he got to be him. That was more than he could have ever asked for. Sometimes he thinks back to that day and wonders what his life would have ended up like if he hadn't had Chat to release himself into. It could have ended badly, and for that he was lucky. Then, he met Ladybug.

Boy, she was everything. Strong, confident, brave, and he couldn't forget cute. At first it had only been a crush, something small yet, significant. But over time, it grew into full blown love.

And it scared the shit out of him.

He had trust issues when it came to love. Some would say it was because of all his fans, who were mostly girls saying they loved him 24/7. But in reality, it was because of his parents. One day they were happy and healthy, the next day, she left. His father distanced himself to keep Adrien away from the pain but it ended up hurting him more. Everyone he had ever loved, or tried to love, had left him. And that left a crack that friendship couldn't heal.

So Ladybug was his sun, but also his poison. She made his life worth living, but he knew one wrong move could destroy him.

He was beyond happy when she finally agreed to reveal herself. He would find his true love, the girl who made his heart flutter too fast and his stomach tie into knots. He wanted to go first so she would become comfortable with the idea of it all. He released his kwame, and his luck.

It went downhill so fast he had to pay full attention to try to put on the brakes.

She was Marinette, and she left.

He knew most of what she said was true, but he also knew some of it wasn't.

Yes, he didn't love Marinette like he loved Ladybug. He had fallen in love with her mask, but he didn't know better. He _should_ have known better. He had just assumed, like him, her true self was the hero side. The hero who could use their mask to be who they really were. He didn't know it could be used to hide behind. Chat hid behind Adrien and Marinette hid behind Ladybug. His feelings were really confused now, he was a good friend to Marinette but he did have to admit that he did talk to Nino a lot more about Ladybug than Marinette.

But he could relate too, Everyone always talked about how cool Adrien the model was than Chat Noir. Chat Noir was the real him, no lies or acts to put on.

So he was mad too, Marinette had fallen i love with what she had assumed was the real him and he fell in love with what he assumed was the real her.

He needed to fix this, and now he knew exactly where to go to do so. He re transformed into Chat and hopped across the roofline of paris until he reached a certain parisian bakery. He leaped onto the balcony and looked for a way inside. As he looked he felt nervous, what if Marinette really was disappointed in him. What if she hated him.

He found the hatch on the ground and cracked it open to look inside. He had been to her house before and was familiar with the pink room but he thought something was different this time. Her walls looked more, bare. He spotted Marinette pacing back and forth in the main area of her room. She looked concerned and sad. He decided to reveal himself and opened the hatch completely. She gave a startled yelp and he entered her room carefully, he was painfully aware that any wrong move could doom their friendship. He looked over to her frightened face and tried to calm her down, first he transformed. "Marinette look I know-"

"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out mid sentence, "I was wrong to judge you and hurt you like that, my own insecurities overwhelmed me and I ended up saying things I didn't mean. I shouldn't have assumed so much so fast, I was just afraid that everyone liked Ladybug more than Marinette and you had just basically said that and then you said you loved me, her, well me I guess but I didn't know how to respond to that and all of a sudden I was angry and-" she stopped to slow herself down. "Basically I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me"

Adrien took in what she said and looked at her with nothing but adoration, here he was trying to apologize to her and she was worried about apologizing to him. He did appreciate that she explained why she had been so upset by why being Adrien was so bad for being Chat Noir, but it hurt him that her insecurities had carried so far.

"I'm sorry too, I didn't know that you hid behind your mask like how I hid behind Adrien. I assumed, like me, you are your full self when you are Ladybug, and I shouldn't have assumed. Of course I can forgive you, your m'lady! My bugga boo, my one and only, and I hope we can be both partners and maybe something more. I still love you Marinette, my heart feels the same rush when I see you. Maybe I didn't recognize it before, or maybe It's because all of Ladybugs best qualities are your qualities. Yes when your Ladybug you may be more confident or brave, but both of you share that same intelligence and hope that inspires me. That's what make you different, that's why I fell in love with you" He looked at her and tried to imagine not being around her anymore, or being without her, but it made him too sad. He needed her, and if being friends was what she wanted, then he could do that. She looked at him with an expression he couldn't decipher. "What are you thinking" he asked.

"I.." She started a little unsure, "I think I love you too." She said it very softly but he could still hear her and his heart almost burst with happiness. "I just don't know if we would be good together" His heart dropped but he was determined to make this work.

"I know we have been through a lot, no one has been through the same things we have. We're the heroes of Paris for pete's sake! But I think if we take things slowly, and try it out, we could work" He had confidence that they would be great together.

"Slowly, she repeated, "I think I like that". A slow smile spread across her face and she moved closer to him. When Marinette had stopped apologizing they had both sat down on her bed, but she had been on the opposite side, as if she was concerned that is she got any closer, he would break. Now they were right next to each other, almost touching. He reached out and slowly touched her hand in a motion to hold it. She laced her finger through his and blushed slightly.

They moved closer and leaned in to each other-

"Hey Marinette! Your mom just told me that-" Alya burst into the room, expecting it only to hold her best friend.

"Woah wait!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: if you don't want to listen to Marionettes thought process, go to the horizontal line and read from there.

 **Chapter 3**

As soon as she walked away she knew she had made a mistake. It wasn't Chats/Adrien's fault for her insecurities, so she shouldn't blame him for her discomfort. Sure, she had a seemingly perfect life, she couldn't complain. But just because you grew up in a nice home with food on the table every night and loving parents doesn't mean you can't have problems too.

She knew that sounded selfish, but her parents wealth didn't improve her pain. She was beyond lucky, and she was barely holding on. She just kept gripping on the solid parts of her life to keep herself together. Instead of getting angry or mad, she became a hero. Any pent up energy or anger was put into saving the world, and it took alot out of her. How could she be unhappy? She didn't really know to be honest. Back in highschool she wasn't well liked, she was shy, and pushed around. Her friends were fake and betrayed her. When she finally went to college she had made new friends, and developed a crush. Everything was well and happy, yet she still hurt. When she became a hero she was unsure if she was the right person to save Paris.

But saving Paris, saved her.

She was in a good spot, but she still had those high school insecurities left in her that made her question everything. She kept herself from having close friendships, and Alya broke through her shell. When the reveal finally happened, when she finally understood the coincidences, the boy, and the constant flirting. She was a coward and ran away.

She did love Chat, but she was afraid to put him in any more danger by loving him. She was also afraid that she would be too unreliable for them to be in a healthy relationship. She wasn't sure she was ready to be that person yet. She wasn't ready to love yet.

Shit.

She had really messed this up.

When she finally burst back into her room the first thing she saw were the childish pictures of Adrien she had put up. Contrary to popular belief, Marinette didn't have a crush on him due to his good looks and his fame. Nope. She would still like him if he was poor, unearthly looking, and unknown. She fell for the boy who was kind to everyone and gave her an umbrella on a rainy day.

She ripped the posters off her walls to try to make the reality into bad memory. She changed her computer screen, cleared her walls, and replaced everything that once had Adrien; with her fashion designs. Her childish obsession now over.

She started pacing thinking of ways to fix this, Chat was her best friend, her partner, maybe even the love of her life. She couldn't live in a world where the two of them weren't at least friends. She knew she hurt his feelings, but she did have some reason to it.

Everyone did love Ladybug more, but she was Ladybug. That had to mean that she was doing a good job, right? In fact some people liked Ladybug more than Chat, which was crazy. Chat did the same amount of work as her, sometimes more. So how could she not be happy with the fact that people, indirectly, loved her.

She guessed she just wished that Alya liked Marinette more than Ladybug.

But it was silly to take that out on Chat Noir, he didn't do anything wrong.

He saved her.

Suddenly Chat entered her room from the hatch that lead to her balcony.

She gasped, both relieved and afraid, as he detransformed in front of her. She couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of stress being lifted of her shoulders. Here he was! Right in front of her! She was ready with an apology but couldn't quite bring herself to say it. She was afraid.

"Marinette look I know-" He started to apologize.

She stopped him mid sentence, bursting with guilt.

"I'm so sorry! I was wrong to judge you and hurt you like that, my own insecurities overwhelmed me and I ended up saying things I didn't mean. I shouldn't have assumed so much so fast, I was just afraid that everyone liked Ladybug more than Marinette and you had just basically said that and then you said you loved me, her, well me I guess but I didn't know how to respond to that and all of a sudden I was angry and-" she stopped to slow herself down. "Basically I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me" She sat there nervously waiting for his reply. He looked shocked but weirdly amazed. She hadn't said anything worthy of appreciation, she had just tried to gain her best friends trust back. He meant so much to her she didn't know any other way this could end without them together in one way or another.

She was determined.

"I'm sorry too" he replied truthfully, "I didn't know that you hid behind your mask like how I hid behind Adrien. I assumed, like me, you are your full self when you are Ladybug, and I shouldn't have assumed. Of course I can forgive you, your m'lady! My bugga boo, my one and only, and I hope we can be both partners and maybe something more. I still love you Marinette, my heart feels the same rush when I see you. Maybe I didn't recognize it before, or maybe It's because all of Ladybugs best qualities are your qualities. Yes, when your Ladybug you may be more confident or brave, but both of you share that same intelligence and hope that inspires me. That's what makes you different, that's why I fell in love with you"

There was that word again, love. She didn't know how he used that word so freely yet so, personal. She could tell he meant it, but she had never known how to use that word herself. Sure, she liked adrien; but she had never full out loved him. She needed to grow on that idea. Adults always told you that you wouldn't know what love is until you got older, but what she felt for Chat? Her best friend and partner? Well, she couldn't think of a better word to describe it. So, maybe she did love the black cat, but that didn't mean that they were the best match. Today was a great example of that. She had hurt him, and although she didn't want too, she couldn't help but think she might do again.

"What are you thinking" he asked. His face was etched with worry and nerves. He has slowly begun to fiddle with the hem of his shirt in anticipation. She couldn't help but love that golden face.

"I.. I think I love you too." As soon as she said it she knew it was true. But she still didn't know if that meant they were good for each other. "I just don't know if we would be good together" She saw his face immediately fall and she wanted to say something to make him feel better, she just didn't know what.

Suddenly, his face looked back up at her and he said, "I know we have been through a lot, no one has been through the same things we have. We're the heroes of Paris for pete's sake! But I think if we take things slowly, and try it out, we could work" He was always so sure of his decisions. Always persistent to get to his goal.

"Slowly, she repeated, "I think I like that". A slow smile spread across her face and she moved closer to him. When Marinette had stopped apologizing they had both sat down on her bed, but she had been on the opposite side, as if she was concerned that is she got any closer, he would break. Now they were right next to each other, almost touching. He reached out and slowly touched her hand in a motion to hold it. She laced her finger through his and blushed slightly.

They moved closer and leaned in to each other-

"Hey Marinette! Your mom just told me that-" Alya burst into the room, expecting it only to hold her best friend.

"Woah wait!"

* * *

The two immediately jumped away from each other and made it look like he was just hanging out and talking with her.

"I have sooo many questions" Alya said with a devious smile on her face, "but let's start with this one, what is Adrien doing here?"

Marinette started to panic but Adrien was quick to reply.

"I was just helping her learn some new chinese vocab for the next time her uncle visits, I guess I'll head out now" he stood up and walked over to the hatch in the floor that lead to the rest of the building. He opened it up and waved a quick goodbye to Marinette as Alya stood in shock and absolute amusement.

"Girl, what was that and why did you not tell me you spend one on one time with Adrien" Alya had immediately planted herself right next to Marinette in the bed.

"It was just something nice he was doing for me, no big deal" she tried to brush it off.

"No big deal, you were just alone in the same room as your crush and it was no big deal!" Alya looked like she had just been shot in the leg. "How is that at all true, tell me everything!"

Marinette went on to tell a small fib about he was teaching her chinese and was careful to mention that most of the time they spent in her living room where her parents could see them. Alya seemed to buy this and told her the real reason she had come over.

"Apparently your mom told me that you had my dress for the formal done" That's right, with all the hectic going on around her she had totally blanked on the formal coming up this weekend. She had just finished Alyas dress before the akuma attacked. She walked over to her wardrobe and brought out an orange and red sequined dress.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"It's perfect, I love it! Nino is going to love this!" They had been going out for the past 2 months officially, but technically for the past 5 months. They were the most adorable couple ever, and Nino still got a little flustered around her which was the cutest thing.

"Well, I got to go" Alya said, "I only had time to come pick this up before I needed to go babysit. I'll see you later!"

Marinette sighed and layed down on her bed as she was finally alone in her room after the past days events. She curled up in her sheets and snuggled in her pajamas. As the day had gotten later, the weather had gotten worse. When Alya had been her is was slightly drizzling. Now, it was pouring. And she loved it. There was nothing better than going to sleep with the pitter patter of raindrops against your roof as the lights of paris slowly dwindled down.

That is, until she saw the cat ears perked up outside her window.


	4. Chapter 4

She honestly didn't know how to feel about seeing Adrien again so soon. They had both had a long slightly stressful day, and she needed time to process. Her heart was mixed up in what to feel, especially since she was tired. But she couldn't just leave him out there. Why wasn't he home? She walked over to the hatch to let him inside before he got to wet. Confused, tired, but excited she greeted him wearily not quite use to reacting to him yet.

"Hey Cha-" she coughed and corrected herself, "Adrien, what brings you here?"

He looked stressed, the same look he made whenever they had trouble defeating akuma's. He fidgeted with his hair and chewed on his lip. Transformed, his clothes were no longer wet as he turned to her and answered her question.

"I know we just talked and you don't want to rush things but, I need a friend right now. This doesn't have to.." he tried to think of the right word, "'count' or anything." He raised his fingers in quotations.

"Of course" Marinette replied, "Whatever you need to talk about"

She motioned for them to sit on her bed like they had done earlier in the day. She could tell it was something serious, Chat always played with his hair whenever he was nervous. Now that she thought about it, Adrien did too. She was baffled with all the similarities she had missed so easily…

"I" he started, looking at the floor. " Tomorrow marks one year since my mother disappeared" She watched him as he tugged on the blond curls. "I went home to look at my photos of her but my dad was home with some business associates and everything was so busy and loud and I just-"

"It's okay," she said interrupting him. "I understand. If you want we can talk about it, or not if you don't want to"

"Actually, can we talk about something else. Anything else." He looked up embarrassed. He had just dumped all this information on her, right after the whole reveal fiasco, and was in her house uninvited. His cheeks turned pink.

"Yeah of course" She replied. She shifted on the bed so that they were facing each other better. She was sitting up by the head while Adrien sat at the foot of the bed. "Do you want to see some of my newer sketches?"

He relaxed at the change of subject. "Yeah that sounds great!"

She pulled out the sketchbook she always carried around school. After flipping through a couple pages she handed it to him and watched as he examined the designs.

"You truly are going to be one of the best fashion designers in Paris" she blushed at his words. He stopped at one of the pages and examined the page more than the others. "Are these dress designs for the formal coming up?" He asked.

"Oh! Yeah I was designing some dresses for Ayla and I" she peaked at the page he was on. "I decided to go with the orange and red for Alya and the black and blue for me." She pointed at the sketches and then gestured over to where the blue dress currently hung near her dresser. Adrien stood up and walked over to examine her work. It was beautiful and matched her eyes perfectly. How had he not connected her eyes with ladybugs? It was so obvious to him now. He had to push back those thoughts and reminded himself that he was there as a friend.

"It's beautiful Marinette!" He turned to look at her and smiled when he saw her blush. "We are going as a group with Alya and Nino right?"

She was relieved when he didn't ask her to go with him. "Yes!" She smiled and turned back to her sketches. Knowing that Adrien was Chat made her need to get to know him as one person and not as two. They needed to learn how to trust each other again and she was grateful that he saw that too. They were going to take things slow.

"What's your favorite part of being a superhero?" she asked quietly.

Her question stopped him from admiring her dress and he thought for a few moments before replying. "Probably seeing Paris at night. How about you?"

"My favorite part is standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower and drawing inspiration for my designs." She had to agree with him on seeing Paris at night too though. Adrien walked back over to where she was sitting and plopped down near her.

"What's your favorite civilian rescue so far?"

They went on asking each other questions until Marinette started yawning in every sentence she tried to form.

"I should probably let you get some sleep" Adrien said as her eyes started closing unintentionally. She tried to tell him to stay but all that came out was a yawn.

"You're right," she scooted down in her bed to a more comfortable position. "WIll you be okay at home?"

He smiled as he transformed, "I'll be fine. Thank you though, for distracting me. I know we aren't on the best of terms but I hope to fix that soon." He opened the hatch and climbed outside.

"Goodnight bugaboo" he whispered as he jumped off the terrace.

"Goodnight silly kitty" Marinette whispered as she fell asleep.

A/N:

Hey guys, sorry for not updating yadda yadda. Comment on what you think needs improvement and what you would like to see in the future of this story!


End file.
